Tributes are flowing for a dairy farmer who died during Victoria's destructive storms on February 13.
Bruce Manintveld, 50, from Mirboo North in Gippsland was "racing to bring the cows in" before the weather arrived, his wife Fiona said on X, formerly Twitter.
"He rolled the [dice] & lost. That's farming though... you roll the [dice] - he normally won. Not this time.
"A man who loved his cows."
Just after 4pm Mr Manintveld had posted a video of the storm brewing in the background as cows walked across a paddock, alongside a screenshot of the rain radar, captioned "incoming".
WorkSafe Victoria said a farmer was on a quad bike moving cattle when he was struck by a detached shed roof in strong winds about 6pm.
Eastern Victoria MP Harriet Shing was among those to pay tribute to Mr Manintveld.
"My deepest sympathies to Fiona and the family, friends and community that Bruce called home," she said on Facebook.
"It was a genuine joy to watch Bruce and Fiona's wisdom, humour, and generosity with other farmers over the years, and their care for the land, their cows, and each other.
"Just such a tragedy."
Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett said the organisation and dairy farmers across Australia were saddened to hear about the death of Mr Manintveld in the devastating storm.
Mr Bennett described Mr Manintveld affectionately as a "cow man" and an "incredible guy with a phenomenal story".
"Bruce was a self-made farmer, and he and wife Fiona paid their farm off in record time," he said.
"He was well respected and had a phenomenal work ethic.
"The couple accomplished the un-accomplishable in creating a freehold farm in a matter of years."
The local Mirboo North CFA unit described the storm as like "an express train".
"It arrived and was gone in no more than five minutes and... changed the Mirboo North landscape."
Hundreds of powerlines were brought down by trees and destructive winds, cutting electricity to more than 500,000 properties on February 13.
